CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
Ser. No. 488,519, filed Apr. 25, 1983.
The present invention relates to surgical devices, and more particularly to scrub sponges.
Prior to surgery, the operative site is cleaned by hospital personnel in order to minimize the possibility of contamination around the site. First, a scrub solution comprising a soap or detergent is utilized to wash the patient in the region of the operative site after which the scrub solution is removed from the patient. Next, the patient is painted with an antiseptic liquid, such as povidone iodine, in the region of the site. When dry the antiseptic paint provides a continuous protective film in the region of the site, and the surgery is ready to commence.
A scrub sponge is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,220, incorporated herein by reference, which includes a puncture member on one side of a rupturable packet. However, it has been discovered that when a projection on the puncture member pierces the packet it may pass through the sponge and scratch the patient when the sponge is used, which of course is undesirable.